Southernwood.
Abrotanum mas.
A shrubby plant, native of many parts of Europe, but kept in our gardens. The stem is woody, and tough, and is covered with a brown bark. The leaves are divided into tine slender parts, and are of a pale green, whitish colour, and strong smell. The flowers are small and yellowish; they grow in great numbers on the top of the stalk, and are naked and of a rough appearance. The seeds are longish, and of a pale brown.
The tops of the young branches are used; a decoction of them is good against worms, but it is a very disagreeable medicine. Beaten into a conserve with three times their weight of sugar, they are not very unpleasant, and they are in this form good against nervous disorders, and in all hysteric complaints.